This blog details some of my thoughts and aspirations relating to application packaging, compatibility and the ongoing management of applications on desktop, server and cloud platforms. I have a strong focus on the Windows desktop space, but as we progress into more and more cloud based application management, we will definitely see more posts on getting applications working
in the cloud.

Monday, 25 March 2013

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) - Getting it at home

A fellow Canadian, Stephen Rose of the Microsoft Springboard series posted a blog entry a little while ago about the support life cycle for Windows 7. As you are very likely to have received an automatic update for your home computers for Service Pack 1 starting last Monday (with the rolling update probably lasting another week or so) I thought that I would post a quick update on the life cycle and support schedule for Windows 7. Note: if you are enterprise customer, you are very likely NOT to be affected as your desktop will likely be managed by Microsoft's SCCM or WSUS products.

Here is a quick snap-shot of the support matrix for Windows 7.

Support for Microsoft's Windows 7 desktop platform ends 24 months after the next service pack releases or at the end of the product's support lifecycle, whichever comes first. You can find the complete support policy document here: http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/#ServicePackSupport

Hold on - reading the support document - Support for Windows 7 RTM ends April 2013. That's next month!

Has it really been that long? It seems just like yesterday (while not quite yesterday) that I was working with the MS team trying to identify application level compatibility issues for the new desktop, the answer to Vista, Windows 7. And, next month, we are moving out the support cycle for Windows 7 RTM? Amazing. Well, I can say that it has been quite a ride.